Lauren Salazar of New Belgium Brewing is the high priestess of sour beer. (Courtesy of New Belgium Brewing).

New Belgium Brewing Company’s high priestess of sour beer Lauren Salazar often says she has a dream that one day the brewery’s delicious La Folie would become the nation’s go-to sour in the same way Fat Tire is to amber ale.

It is a wish that could some day come true.

As more breweries produce sour beers, the American palette is growing more sophisticated and sours are becoming more accepted. In due time people surely will begin to expect to see more sour beer tap handles, and La Folie from the nation’s third-largest craft brewer would be a good choice.

“I am still hopeful that we can produce enough that people say, ‘This is the sour that I can actually get,'” she said. “It will become their Friday five o’clock beer of choice. Before that beer was probably an IPA or an amber, but maybe now it will be a sour.”

On Saturday, New Belgium Brewing will introduce its 2016 batch of sour beauts — La Folie and Transatlantic Kriek — at 35 Lost in the Woods events throughout the country, including in Denver and at the flagship brewery in Fort Collins.

The distribution arm of the Denver craft brewery recently brought much-coveted Hill Farmstead beers to the state and this week delivers kegs of Melvin Brewing’s 2×4 Double IPA.

The Wyoming-based Melvin’s long-anticipated arrival in Colorado will take place Thursday for the national 2×4 Day (2/4 on the calendar). The brewery won best small brewpub of the year at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival and just completed a massive expansion.

The Colorado locations getting kegs of 2×4 IPA are Falling Rock and Hops and Pie in Denver; the Boulder and Nederland locations of Backcountry Pizza and Tap House; and Tap and Handle in Fort Collins.

Rule No. 1 in journalism: You are not supposed to be part of the story.

You must be a dispassionate observer, collecting the facts and writing an objective account. You are not supposed to, for example, name a beer that mocks a corporate beer behemoth.

Yet, that is what I have apparently done.

Mu Brewery’s Vanilla Porta-Rita was the idea of owner Nathan Flatland — a beer that would both be a tribute to Breckenridge Brewery’s rich Colorado tradition and a poke in the eye over Anheuser-Busch InBev’s acquisition of the brewery last month.

The beer was brewed with 10 gallons of Bud Light and ingredients from Breck’s classic Vanilla Porter recipe, including chocolate nibs, sweet malts and mellow hops as well as Madagascar vanilla beans soaked in bourbon.

“This beer is a statement of defiance to the very corporation that purchased Breckenridge — a local brewing landmark established by craft entrepreneurs who helped put Denver on the craft map,” said Flatland in a press release, who also notes that the “power of craft” swallowed any trace of the mass-produced yellow beer.

White Labs, which is one of the world’s largest makers of yeast, is opening a tasting room in Boulder.

White Labs plans to open its beer tasting room Friday in Boulder, a new must-visit experience for homebrewers and craft beer fans alike.

The Boulder location — above Upslope Brewing — is open Fridays from 2 to 8 p.m. to start. White Labs is planning a grand opening party March 4.

The San Diego-based company produces the yeasts that make many Colorado professional and homebrewed beers — meaning it’s well-known inside the community. But Kat Small, the company’s special projects manager, said the tasting room hopes to educate even the casual craft beer fan.

“A lot of people know even know that yeast is a strong component in beer,” she said.

It is a smart marketing move for breweries to introduce football-themed beers right before big games, like Sunday’s AFC championship game with the Denver Broncos versus the New England Patriots.

Spangalang Brewery of Denver is clearly run by a bunch of football fans, tapping a new beer in advance of the big game. Orange Crushsicle — a nod to the Broncos vaunted Orange Crush defense from years ago — will debut at the brewery. The brewers say it is a “fast-finishing, super-quaffable session beer (of just 4.3 percent alcohol by volume).” Its additions include orange juice, bitter and sweet orange peel and a dose of vanilla.

The beer is available only on tap at the brewery.

“It’s the beer equivalent of a Dreamsicle frozen treat,” said Spangalang’s Darren Boyd, “with refreshing orange citrus notes wrapped around subtle vanilla flavors. It’s a guaranteed winner we’ve brewed in honor of the future AFC champion Denver Broncos. Local craft beer drinkers will love it, but it’s way too much for people from New England.”

Boyd said he will set aside a special keg of the beer for Tom Brady for after the game.

“Just before kickoff we’re going to drop the pressure on the beer by a few PSI,” he said, referring to the infamous allegations of the Patriots’ deflating game balls from last year’s playoffs. “It’ll be a bit flat and more to his liking, something to enjoy while he wipes away the tears.”

Spangalang Brewery is located at 2736 Welton St. in Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood.

Other breweries also have caught the sports bug. We reported last month that Factotum Brewhouse will be releasing “Oatmaha,” a tribute beer to the Broncos’ quarterback Peyton Manning. It is a collaboration between Factotum and Indianapolis’ Tow Yard Brewing Co., since Manning played for both the Indianapolis Colts and the Broncos. The beer will be available in cans beginning in March.

“We have some lofty goals,” founder and CEO Dale Katechis said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Oskar Blues projects its brewing operations could churn out 243,000 barrels — 128,000 coming from Colorado; 105,000 from Brevard, N.C.; and 10,000 from a new Austin brewpub slated to open in April. As such, brewery revenue should climb further from the $55 million notched last year.

The event — a highlight of the Colorado beer scene each year — took place at the Vail Cascade Resort for the past three years, but now the venue is being sold and poised for a potential remodel that may force the event to a new home.

“As many of you know, Big Beers is facing a crossroads with regard to 2017 and beyond,” event coordinator Laura Lodge e-mailed fans after the 16th annual event earlier this month.

The event’s organizers are considering a number of possibilities — including finding a new date, moving to a different mountain town or shifting the event to a Sunday through Tuesday affair (instead of Thursday through Saturday). Another possibility: Remain in Vail, but shrink the beer tasting part of the festival to fit a smaller space.

East side of the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria Campus November 07, 2014. The Tivoli Brewery and Tap Room will return to the building in April 2015 complete with a brewery, restaurant and beer garden. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

The Tivoli Brewing Company is now serving beer brewed at the historic building on the Auraria Campus and soon will serve its drinks outside at a new beer garden scheduled to open later this year.

The brewing company resurrected the Tivoli brand when it opened a brew pub in August, renovating an old restaurant in the Tivoli building that serves as the student union for the three schools that share the campus.

Tivoli beer has been brewed off site at Prost Brewing Company until the facility was ready. The first beer brewed on campus was poured Tuesday. Read the full story here.

The multinational brewer has been aggressively increasing its craft beer portfolio. Craft beer sales have doubled over the past five years while sales for major labels like Coors and Budweiser have flattened or declined.

With 10 Barrel, AB InBev sunk $10 million into the brewery, which added six new 400-barrel tanks and hired more employees. Its owners say their corporate overlords will not tinker with the quality or creativity of the beer.Read more…

Boulder Beer Co. will host a memorial service from 2-5 p.m. Wednesday at the brewery, 2880 Wilderness Place in Boulder, for co-founder David Hummer, who died Dec. 17 after a short illness.

Hummer, who was 80, is a legend in the world of Colorado beer — helping found Boulder Beer, the state’s first craft beer brewery, in 1979. At the time, only 42 breweries were operating in the United States. Today, there are more than 4,000, according to the Boulder-based Brewers Association. Boulder Beer is now considered the “oldest surviving craft brewery” in the country.

Our new iPad app serves as a guide to metro Denver’s bountiful breweries, beer bars and bottle shops, the holy trinity of craft beer enjoyment for followers and fans. Download the app for iPad .
Next time you head for a beer in Boulder, don’t forget your friend, Beers of Boulder and Boulder County, an iPad app from the Daily Camera. Download the app for iPad .

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In Colorado, our pint glasses overflow with excellent beer. New breweries, new batches, festivals every other week. How lucky are we? First Drafts is The Denver Post's beer blog aimed at helping you keep tabs on the state's ever-expanding craft beer culture. We offer a mash of news, event coverage, homegrown stories, tasting notes and tips to help you imbibe. Expert drinker or homebrewer? Let us know what you're loving about Colorado's beer scene. Not sure exactly what a firkin is? No worries, let us be your guide. Go ahead. Belly up and drink it in!